True stories from the front lines of parenting.

News Flash: To Become a Mom, Most of Us Were NudeDecember 3, 20140 Comments

Heather CHeather C is a married, mom of three: big sis Lily and identical twins Natalie and Sophia. She has been guest blogging for Mumbling Mommy since February of 2012 and began working as a Social Media Editor in 2014. After nearly a decade in banking, she now works part time at a doctor's office specializing in breastfeeding medicine and spends the rest of her days in her Midwest home as zookeeper/stay-at-home-mom. Heather C is also a runner, hiker, yogi, bike rider and more. She reads when she finds more than a few minutes to herself and she hosts a lot of pajama dance parties in her kitchen. In her spare time, she's the co-leader for her daughter's Girl Scout troop and an active member of the school's Parent-Teacher Committee as well as a certified postpartum doula.

Photo Taken by Prestige Photo STL

Did that title of nude moms grab your attention? Good. Take a seat because here I go. I recently read this article about Kim Kardashian and her decision to pose nude. Was it attention seeking? Surely. Am I a fan of Kim K in any other situation? Not even a little bit. But here I am, finding myself defending her. Gah!

News Flash: We Were All Nude Moms

That’s right, I am DEFENDING HER. She is being attacked as a horrible mother because she posed nude. (Trust me, she was attacked for far more things too, but I’m trying to stay on topic.) Here are just some of the comments (all from the article linked above):

“I normally don’t. But … you’re someone’s mother …”

“Kim Kardashian is trashy. Why are you still doing nude photo shoots when you’re a mom?”

“Wow I didn’t realize Kim Kardashian went full frontal nude in Paper Magazine … Bit trashy. She prides herself on being such a good mom, ha.”

“Of course Kim has every right to take these pictures. She’s an adult and it’s her body and she gets to make her own decisions. But could she really reprimand her daughter if she did something similar? Teens are often highly vigilant for any hypocrisy in adults.”

“I’m not here to criticize Kim, but as a mother, I was expecting more from her. I don’t think she’s a bad parent, she just need to make better decisions.”

“Hopefully the Nanny that is raising the baby will be a positive role model for her.”

Harsh much?

Here’s the deal, people. I have three kids. In order to conceive them, I was naked. My oldest daughter is 5 years old and regularly takes showers with me now instead of baths with her sisters. Guess what? She sees me naked. I breastfed all three of my daughters and even if I covered up for strangers, my girls still saw the nakedness. And furthermore, I had nude boudoir-style photos taken this past summer as a way to feel sexy again as a mom. Because let’s face it: motherhood is not always that glamorous.

There are simply too many reasons why Kim posing nude for a magazine has nothing to do with her ability to be a mom and why it’s not even a big deal. Women pose nude for magazines All. The. Time. Many are nude moms. Many pose nude pregnant. There is even an entire movement (albeit with a completely different motive.) by 4th Trimester Bodies Project getting moms to come forward to pose in all shapes and sizes. And they are NUDE!

Society seriously needs to get over its obsession with nudity. Sexuality is something that needs to be expressed and embraced and loved, and too much of this kind of nonsense is causing moms to fall into some kind of stereotype where they are instantly judged as a tramp for wearing short shorts. Gosh, did I just become a feminist?

Dress (or take off your clothes) however you choose. I’m not here to tell anyone to go flash her neighbor. But you absolutely do NOT have the right to judge another person for the decisions she makes with her own body.